|
ENTREPRENEURS
INVITED TO PITCH TO £2M SOCIAL INCUBATOR FUND
A ground-breaking £2m fund
has re-opened to entrepreneurs across the North. The Social
Incubator North scheme invites budding entrepreneurs to submit their
business idea for its second round, with the chance of up to £25k
loan investment and up to 80 hours of tailored one-to-one business
support, peer learning, networking and access to business premises
for the successful applicants.
All ideas must come with a social backbone, such as offering
employment or training to vulnerable members of the community or
delivering a service with green credentials.
Social Incubator North, which launched in May this year, received
170 enquiries in its first round, with 114 applications. Of those,
33 went on to receive a place on the programme with participants
from the North East, North West, East Midlands and Yorkshire and
Humber.
The scheme, which is co-funded by the Cabinet Office through the
Social Incubator Fund, aims to create 60 new investment ready
businesses across all sectors.
Social Incubator North is led by Sheffield-based Key Fund in
collaboration with the four Northern Social Enterprise Partnerships
and Locality.
Sam Tarff, CEO of Key Fund, said:- "The initial response to
the programme was just incredible, showing there's a real appetite
for entrepreneurs who want to not only create good businesses but
business that does good."
Key Fund has significant experience of successful investment,
consortium management and business development for the social
enterprise sector.
Mr Tarff added:- "It's an incredibly exciting concept as
anyone with a competitive and brilliant idea can apply, it doesn't
have to be perfectly formed to start with. It goes to a grassroots
level so really opens up the market to help ignite local economies.
Unlike other funds, it's geared up to deliver that practical,
hands-on support to take ideas step-by-step into reality, so these
new businesses have solid foundations from which to fly."
Read all about it – library is No.
1 attraction! FORGET
football and the Fab Four. Liverpool's Central Library is the number
one tourist attraction according to a top travel website!
TripAdvisor has ranked the library number one out of 124 attractions
in the City; making it the only public lending library in any one of
the major UK Cities to take the top spot. Thanks to the independent
reviews on the site it has a 5 star rating which is the highest
score possible.
Reviews include:-
► "One of the most amazing pieces of modern design in Liverpool…"
► "If you love your books visit this place, I could have spent all
day in here!!! Little treasures all over the place!"
► "My advice to everyone and anyone interested in architecture
and/or history is GO!!"
► "I wish I lived in Liverpool so I could use the place regularly.
Fantastic makeover! Architectural dream."
The accolade comes just 6 months since the library re-opened its
doors following a £50m restoration of the venue.
Liverpool City Council's Assistant Mayor and Cabinet Member
responsible for libraries, Councillor Wendy Simon, said:-
"It's fantastic news to reach the number one spot on a website that
is visited regularly by millions of people. Before going on any
trip, people tend to consult TripAdvisor, so to be classed as the
tourist attraction in Liverpool is a huge coup for the library.
Since it opened in May, more than 400,000 people have visited the
venue, and the feedback we've had has been overwhelming with people
loving the painstaking restoration work which has been carried out,
set against stunning new features such as the atrium and the roof
terrace. Let's hope our new chart topping web status will encourage
even more people to visit this beautiful library."
James Kay, a spokesman for TripAdvisor, said:- "The Popularity
Index is calculated from millions of traveller reviews on
TripAdvisor, so for the Central Library to top the ranking for
attractions in Liverpool shows just how popular and valued a venue
it is."
To see all of Liverpool's favourite attractions, visit:-
tripadvisor.co.uk/liverpool. |
 |
Major award for
new look Central Library
LIVERPOOL'S £50 million
refurbishment of Central Library has won a major national award;
beating off competition from London's Shard building.
The City has scooped a prestigious National Building Excellence
Award, for its work to sensitively restore the historic building
while creating a modern, world-class, 21st century library.
Awarding Liverpool the gong for 'Technical Innovation',
judges from national body Local Authority Building Control (LABC)
highlighted the challenges the City faced in marrying the new build
extension to the existing Grade II listed landmark.
The City was praised for developing close working relationships with
partners to find solutions to competing technical issues around
preservation of the historic façade, access and fire safety.
It was 1 of 2 awards won by Liverpool at the LABC Awards, with the
City Council also scooping the prize for 'Partnership of the Year'
with Liverpool-based developer Downing Construction.
Downing have been in partnership with Liverpool City Council since
2005, through the LABC partner authority scheme. Judges praised
Downing for using Liverpool City Council's building control team for
all their projects; regardless of location; helping to speed up
the process and cut red tape. It has helped deliver over 20 multi
storey office, hotel and residential developments in Liverpool and
more than 20 similar developments nationally in Leeds, Newcastle,
London, Sheffield, Manchester and Leicester.
Liverpool City Council's Cabinet Member for Regeneration,
Councillor
Malcolm Kennedy, said:- "Liverpool Central Library is a
world-class development, and we are immensely proud of the work that
has been done to combine the new and the old to create a landmark
destination building which will meet the needs of our City for
generations to come.
The project has received unanimous praise since its completion in
May, and we're delighted to now receive this national accolade from
building industry leaders. The success of the City Council,
architects, designers and the contractor in taking on such a
challenging scheme and delivering an inclusive, safe, accessible and
visually stunning building, mean this recognition is well deserved.
It's also great news that our partnership with Downing Construction
has been recognised. The City's Building Control team has developed
strong relationships with Downing to deliver high profile, multi
million pound schemes across Liverpool and beyond, and this award is
an endorsement of how the private and public sectors can work
together effectively to achieve high quality, sustainable
developments."
The Building Excellence Awards are held annually by LABC to
recognise excellence in construction and building control. The
awards showcase outstanding buildings and design teams that have had
to tussle with technical issues or difficult sites, and develop
innovative and creative solutions. They also honour project teams
which have shown collaborative and effective partnership working.
Paul Everall, LABC Chief Executive, said:- "Our Building
Excellence Awards are an opportunity for the industry to celebrate
good practice. Our winners demonstrate how positive working
relationships with local Council building control teams achieve high
quality, sustainable buildings. Our awards are unique because they
recognise how this cooperation improves building standards and
professionalism across the industry."
|
